Investing in Leaders Across the Carolinas
Over the past year, nonprofit and philanthropy leaders from across the Carolinas have gathered through the Launch Carolinas Leadership Accelerator Program, an initiative led by The Duke Endowment that brings nonprofit executives and philanthropic partners together to learn alongside one another. The program is designed to strengthen relationships, build leadership skills, and create space for honest conversations between nonprofit and philanthropic leaders.
The Mary Black Foundation was proud to sponsor Patrena Mims, the executive director of Bethlehem Center in the most recent cohort.
What made this experience unique was that the Foundation was not only involved by providing financial support, but Rochelle Williams, the Foundation’s chief strategy officer and VP of community impact served as a strategic thought partner for another leader in the cohort, Victoria Novak, the executive director of Greenville Literacy Association.
At the graduation ceremony last month, the 12 fellows from the 2025-2026 cohort reflected on a year marked by professional and personal growth. Words like courage, trust, belonging, and clarity surfaced again and again as participants shared how the experience helped them navigate uncertainty while leading organizations their communities rely on.
Launch Carolinas underscores an important truth for funders: investing in strong organizations also means investing in the people who lead them. As the keynote speaker, Vu Le noted, if for-profit businesses and corporations are the food that sustains a community, nonprofits are the air. Like air, you may not always see the work they do, but communities can’t survive without them. Supporting leaders behind the often-invisible work of nonprofits not only strengthens their organizations, but the communities they serve.
